30 Million Beli
by librastar
Summary: In which Nami rediscovers the age old adage that the only way to fight fire is with more fire. A dump pot of Ace/Nami one shots.
1. 30 Million Beli

**Disclaimer: **As always, I can't claim credit for the wonderful world of One Piece because all characters, places and references are the copyright of the genius Eichiiro Oda, and everything else is simply a figment and work of my imagination.

**A/N: **Written because these two don't get enough love. Takes place about roughly 2 years before the start of Romance Dawn Chapter 1.

**30 Million Beli**

"Did you find anything interesting on that old geezer's ship?"

"Ne, unless you count his collection of watermelons - he had 50 of them all lined up from red to yellow!"

A hearty round of laughter broke out among the assembled men, the sounds of their merriment nearly drowned out by the roaring of the frothy sea. Overhead, their Jolly Roger fluttered buoyantly in the breeze; the crimson red spade stark against the black and white crossed bone and skull motif that accompanied all lawbreakers of the sea.

The black-haired pirate at the head of the table snorted. "While you fellas were busy counting watermelons, I managed to raid his safe." Twirling the brim of his orange cowboy hat as the plastic blue smileys clinked gently at his movements; he tossed his crewmates a cocky grin. "Turns out he wasn't that useless after all."

The men's eyes widened at their youthful captain's words. "Senchou, you can't mean…"

Ace grinned fondly at his men, before raising his tankard triumphantly. "To days of adventure on the Grand Line and nights filled with meat and wine. Kanpai!" Another round of cheers sounded, as the men crashed their tankards enthusiastically before gulping deeply. "Now, where's the food?"

Hidden safely behind the galley door, a pair of eyes watched the celebrations silently from within the shadows.

* * *

It hadn't taken long for the pirates to fall asleep. In fact, their idiot captain's head had hit the floor before he had taken more than a sip of wine, the bubble sticking out from his nostril trembling gently in time to his snores. Silently, she stole across the deck and into the main interior of the ship; taking care not to tread on a stray toe or finger.

No matter how poor or basic the ship, every pirate crew had a place where they stored their loot and spoils from plunder. Be it a safe, a cubbyhole, or even once as she had discovered – beneath a crate of rotting fish, no hiding place had ever escaped Nami.

"Where could it be?" she hissed, her eyes darting around the room as she surveyed the sparse, makeshift dormitory that must make up the crew's beds. Dirty clothes littered the wooden floor and the pungent smell of seawater permeated her nostrils, intertwined with the stench of stale sweat. "They couldn't have had much time to hide it."

"Maybe you could try looking in the captain's quarters?"

As a dark figure stepped into the faint moonlight reflected on the floorboards, Nami nearly fell over in shock.

"You!" She pointed at him, half furious and half panicking at the sight of his calm demeanour. "You should have slept until morning! I put my strongest sleeping draught into your ship's wine caskets."

"Oh really?" Ace raised his left eyebrow, stifling a yawn with his hand. "I fell asleep soon after the party started, so I'm not sure I even tasted much of the wine. My narcolepsy kicks in pretty badly after a fight," he continued nonchalantly, before his dark eyes snapped to hers. "What are you after?" he asked baldly.

"None of your business," she snarled, her eyes frantically darting around the room as she looked for any exit she might be able to escape through. If only she could just distract him long enough…

A hard tackle to the ground suddenly knocked the wind out of her. Coughing, Nami found her arms pinned to the sides by the pirate captain as he straddled her hips, a grim expression on his face. She struggled against him, but his strength was far superior to her own. Nonetheless, as she twisted her body furiously from side to side, he suddenly spied the mark on her left shoulder.

He let out a low whistle. "So what do the great Arlong Pirates want with a humble rookie like me?"

Nami growled. "I'm not here in my capacity as a member of the Arlong Pirates. And don't ever call me one of them again!"

The dark-haired pirate let out a small bark of laughter. "You bear his mark, so that means you have accepted him as your Captain and leader. I'll ask you once again – why did you come on board my ship and what are you after?"

Heat flooded her veins at his flippant remark about Arlong, but Nami realised that getting angry was useless in her current predicament. She tried to turn away, but he grabbed her face and forced her to meet his eyes. Even in her rage, she couldn't help noticing that while he had an annoyed, almost angry expression, his eyes remained a soft, gentle dark brown. His face was young and he had, rather amusingly, a smattering of freckles on both cheeks. As he continued staring down at her, she realised with a start that he probably wasn't much older than she was.

Finally, as the minutes dragged on the orange-haired girl mumbled, "Your map. The map to the Grand Line that you got from Old Man Kei's ship this afternoon."

He looked surprised. "The map? If you say you aren't here as part of the Arlong Pirates, why would a girl like you possibly want with a map to the Grand Line? Are you planning to sail there to find the One Piece?"

Nami growled. "I hate pirates and I'm certainly not interested in the One Piece! Until I fulfil my goal, I cannot leave Arlong and sail the Grand Line. I just wanted to….sell the map." As his jaw comically clunked downwards, she tugged experimentally at her wrist to see if his grip had slackened. It hadn't.

He choked. "Sell the map?! Are you insane? Even pirates with more riches than you can ever dream of would give up all their gold in exchange for a map of the Grand Line! No gold in the world can replace the chance to sail the most glorious sea…"

"Well that's all I want okay? Gold!" she snapped, twisting her wrists again as she felt a pinprick of tears sting the corner of her eyes. Nami glared back at him again. "If I manage to sell this map to any of the high-ranking Pirates, I would have enough gold to solve all of my problems!" Images of Nojiko, Genzo, the villagers flitted through her minds' eye…_just a little while more, Bell-mère'...just a little while more..._

She tugged furiously at him again. "So let me go!"

"How much gold do you need?" His sudden question threw her off tack.

She stopped short. "I need 50 million beli more," she answered tersely. "Until I reach my goal."

"30 million beli is all I have. But I can't give you the map."

Fury surged through her again. "You think I'm just going to walk off without getting what I came for? I've been raiding pirate ships for days searching for something valuable enough to fetch more than a 100 million beli!"

"You need the money for someone?"

Nami turned away. "You wouldn't understand," she said bitterly.

"Your family?"

Their gazes collided once again, and Nami felt herself staring into his almost magnetic eyes again. "You could call them that."

Running a hand through his messy dark locks, the pirate captain's expression softened and a somewhat wistful sigh escaped him. "I have a kid brother your age, who's probably saving up every last beli he can scrape together to buy a boat and head out to sea. When we were younger, we made a promise to become pirates and find glory by conquering every corner of these four seas. And with this map," Ace clenched his fist. "I can finally enter the Grand Line!"

She shook her head. "Look buster, I'm not interested in your life story…"

Ace fixed his gaze on her again. "As a member of Arlong's crew you should know that nobody in East Blue will part honestly with so much money for the map – they will probably kill you first or take you as a slave on their ship. You should take the money I'm giving you and continue working towards your goal. No point dying before you've accomplished it," he replied quietly.

A last spark of resistance that had flared in her heart died at his words. He was right – pirates were natural double crossers and if they could kill her rather than fork out millions of beli for such a treasure, they would probably do it. Even if she had the map, it was unlikely she would ever be able to get rid of it alive.

An overwhelming exhaustion suddenly engulfed her.

"Fine, I accept your offer," she mumbled, closing her eyes.

"Good." Nami let out a sigh of relief as his weight shifted, and she rubbed her chaffed wrists.

"Heh," Ace pointed at her, a sheepish grin on his face. "Sorry to be so hard on you, but you were being incredibly stubborn."

The orange-haired girl didn't reply, merely staring thoughtfully at the shadows dancing on the dark walls of the cabin. Outside, the snores of the Spade Pirates crew were still rhythmically rising and falling with the sound of the tide.

"Here." He handed her a sack, the metallic sound of coins clinking as he jiggled it casually. "There should be about 30 million beli in there."

Nami grabbed his arm. "Why are you doing this for me? This is all the treasure you have isn't it?" Taking a step back, she shook her head. "I just tried to rob you."

Flashing her a cocky grin as he adjusted the hat on his head, Ace replied, "Because you have a dream, a goal, a purpose in life you need to achieve. Maybe if I help someone with theirs, someone will help me find mine one day." She couldn't be sure if it was her imagination, but the tips of his fingers had suddenly glowed fiery red. "Besides, I can always get some more treasure tomorrow."

As he strode back towards the deck, he called back, "There's nothing else to take, so don't bother staying long here."

* * *

"Hey Ace! Looks like your little brother is up to his tricks again!"

Pausing from his breakfast momentarily, Ace snorted proudly as he grinned at the Wanted Poster Marco had just handed him. "His bounty's risen again! 300 million beli...if I recall that's even higher than mine was when I was a rookie."

"And seems like he's got himself a pretty decent crew as well," the First Division Commander chuckled appreciatively, rifling through the sheaf of Wanted Posters before handing them to his counterpart. "Roronoa Zoro, Nico Robin…" He broke off as he noticed Ace staring at one poster in particular.

"What's the matter? Do you know her?" Poking his head over Ace's shoulder, the Phoenix pirate looked back at the picture of the girl; her velvety brown eyes stared seductively at the camera while her lips were curved upwards in a flirty, almost cocky smirk. Fiery hair cascaded from her fingers in a mass of orange waves. "Not bad eh," Marco grinned, poking Ace in the side and eliciting a warning growl from the younger man. "You should go pay your brother a visit, Ace!"

Glancing back at Nami's Wanted Poster again, Ace felt a smile grace his lips. "Yes, I think I will."

* * *

**A/N:** My first foray into OP, so please review if you enjoyed the read! PS I know the Banaro Island duel happened 3 days before the Wanted Posters were released but just ignore this little discontinuity if you can!


	2. Midnight Snack

**A/N:** Set sometime during the Alabasta arc in the anime, when Ace was travelling with the Straw Hat crew. Part of a three-shot series. Special thanks to endingsarenotalwaysbad, Toreh, Guest (whoever you are!) and BatmanSwim16 for your lovely reviews and the numerous favs/alerts.

**Midnight Snack**

The moon was already high in the sky when she heard the rustling of leaves in her precious mikan grove. "Come on out, I can hear you!" she called firmly.

True enough, the leafy branches parted and the orange-hatted head of 'Fire Fist' Ace emerged from the depths of the grove. He held his hands up in a show of surrender. "I was hungry," he replied apologetically, although the cheeky grin on his face was anything but contrite. "There wasn't enough to eat at dinner."

And to add insult to injury, he reached into his trouser pockets and brazenly popped a mikan into his mouth. "Delicious! Thank you for the meal."

Snarling with outrage, Nami darted forward but the Whitebeard Commander was too quick for her. "You bottomless pit," she scolded, swiping again at Ace who neatly dodged her outstretched arm. "Feeding one Monkey D. Luffy is bad enough, let alone another one of you! Sanji-kun already has his work cut out…"

Stumbling on a stray mikan peel, the flame-haired Navigator suddenly found herself cushioned against a very muscular, bare chest. Leaning down towards her face, Ace took the opportunity to whisper huskily against her ear, "I really am kind of hungry right now."

Her heart suddenly beating as wild as a thunderstorm on the Grand Line, Nami resolutely whispered back, "Knowing you, you've probably already eaten your way through half my mikan trees! Each fruit will cost you 100 million beli each so start paying u…"

She nearly had another heart attack as the elder D brother pressed his lips to hers, a warm hand momentarily running through her tangerine locks before she found herself standing on her own two feet again with an empty mikan peel pressed into the palm of her hand.

"I ate less than 55 fruits, so consider my debt paid."

She looked up to see his dark silhouette up on the Crow's Nest. Even in the semi-darkness, there was no mistaking the cocky grin on his freckled face. "After all, you just kissed 550 million beli worth of pirate."

Flinging the mikan peel up at him playfully, she heard him chuckle before he disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

**A/N**: You eagle-eyed readers might remember that Ace's bounty before his death was 550 million beli.


	3. Desert Interlude

**A/N**: Many thanks to endingsarenotalwaysbad and Batmanswim2016, your reviews never fail to brighten up my day. Thanks as well to the numerous people who favourited/alerted this story.

**Desert Interlude**

"So what do you think of my little brother?"

The tents had been set up, the fires had been doused and the Straw Hat Pirates were getting ready to sleep after yet another exhausting trek in the unforgiving Sandora desert. A few feet away, Luffy was curling up against Chopper, his rubbery arms wrapped around the little furry reindeer for warmth with Zoro already snoring away somewhere in the background. Sanji was packing bento boxes for tomorrow's lunch while Usopp and Vivi were tending to Carue.

Turning around slowly, Nami found herself face to face with Luffy's elder brother, the notorious Commander of Whitebeard's Second Division 'Fire Fist Ace', who had somehow managed to sneak up on her unnoticed. "Luffy?" she raised her eyebrows. "I should be asking you that question. Until you showed up that day, Luffy had never said a word about any members of his family."

Ace smirked, before settling himself against a large rock. "So what do you want to know?" he replied, dusting sand off his trousers. Rather annoyingly, Nami found herself somewhat distracted by the freckles on his cheeks that gave him the (rather cute) appearance of a seven-year old child. "I don't know – maybe you could start with why the both of you eat so much," she huffed, blowing and rubbing her hands vigorously. Vivi hadn't been lying when she had said that desert temperatures dropped cold enough to freeze hell over after the sun set. "Must be something in that 'D' blood of yours…"

"Luffy and I aren't blood-related, you know," he supplied casually, though his slate grey eyes continued to bore solemnly into hers.

She froze in shock. "So that's why you're so much more polite than him," she tried to recover, but Ace's gaze remained distant. "Nah, Dadan taught us both manners bad enough to make any mountain bandit proud but there was always someone I wanted to say thank you to….so I had to drop the swear words." He grinned at her. "Besides, I think Oyaji would go ballistic if I started out-swearing him!"

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, with Nami listening to the rhythmic snores and even breathing as one by one, her crewmates dropped off to sleep.

"Ace?"

"Hmm?" He poked his head sleepily from under his hat, the dying embers of their campfire reflected in his dark eyes.

"Tell me about yourself."

He arched his left eyebrow comically. "And there I thought you were interested in Luffy," he teased, making her cheeks flare an unflattering shade of red that clashed with her hair. Seeing thunder clouds start to gather above the Navigator's head, the Whitebeard pirate merely grinned at her embarrassment. "On second thought, you're probably more my type than his," he winked, which earned him a playful clip on the ear.

And so they talked - about the early days with Dadan, Luffy and Sabo; forming the Spade Pirates, then joining Whitebeard's crew. He told her about how he had exchanged nearly a thousand punches with Jinbei as a Rookie over 5 days and 5 nights and how he was on a mission to pound Teach into the ground until the last thing he would ever say was Whitebeard. He made her laugh with tales about how he and the First Commander of the Whitebeard Crew, Marco used to prank Oyaji by swapping his alcohol with piss and about the times that Luffy would wet his pants after finding out Garp was coming to visit again. He was intelligent, funny as well as a surprisingly good listener (which was the exact opposite of Luffy!) and before she realised it, they were talking about Bell-mere, Nojiko, Arlong…

"I miss her everyday," she said quietly, tracing circles in the sand with her index finger as Ace looked intently at her. "Everyday, I wish I could take back the things I said and tell her I am proud that _my mother_ is a hero."

A pensive smile curved his lips. "Mothers," he agreed thoughtfully. "Where would we be without their sacrifices..." Standing up, he draped his coat around her shoulders. "I have to take the second watch soon. You better get some sleep."

She tugged at the long sleeves covering her that were still warm from his body heat, surprised that she was feeling more than a mild disappointment at his departure.

"By the way, you never answered my question about Luffy," he casually commented, giving her an amused look as he took a swig of water from the flask they each carried on their hip.

Nami smiled slyly. "Do you still want to know that, or are you more interested in what I have to say about you now?"

He returned her smile with a cocky grin of his own. "Save the insults for later, I swore I'd never have my heart broken on an empty stomach."

* * *

"Are you really leaving us?" Chopper looked tearfully up at Ace, the little reindeer's evident disappointment reflected in his big, glassy eyes. Usopp and Sanji looked equally gloomy while even Zoro felt a slight twinge of sadness. Despite their short time together, the mischievous pirate had grown on them and his silly, cheery antics would be dearly missed.

The Whitebeard Pirate adjusted his hat slightly before leaning down to pat Chopper fondly. "Scorpion said that Blackbeard was spotted in the West, so that's where I'll be making my way to. He's clearly not in Alabasta so I don't have any business here anymore." Straightening, he reached into his voluminous black robes and tossed a folded piece of paper to their meat-loving Captain. "Luffy."

The younger D brother inspected the innocuous square of white, a confused expression evident on his face as he shook it vigorously. "Eh?"

"It will allow us to meet again," Ace continued cryptically. "Don't want it?"

"Of course I do!" Luffy replied somewhat indignantly, before tucking it carefully into the brim of his straw hat.

Ace turned to the rest of the Strawhat Pirates and Vivi. "Having a younger brother who's a bit slow makes an elder brother worry," he smiled, a half-serious expression on his freckled face. "Please take good care of him..." Nami felt his eyes linger on hers a while longer before a loud shout punctuated the air.

"Goodbye everyone!"

Nami turned to see Scorpion and his young sons waving frantically at them. "Thank you for everything!"

The pirates waved back cheerfully before turning back to Ace.

"Where did he go?" Usopp cried out.

"Looks like he's gone..." Zoro sniffed, turning his eyes towards the bloody orange sky.

"The legendary pirate, Fire-Fist Ace," Sanji mused, lighting up another cigarette. The shadows were already getting longer and longer, signalling that it was almost time for dinner.

Luffy laughed loudly, the sounds of his laughter echoing across the sandy dunes. "Don't worry, we will definitely see him again!"

Clutching her own folded piece of paper, Nami smiled to herself. "I'm sure we definitely will..."


	4. Card of Ashes

**A/N:** Based off Chapters 489 and 523. Special thanks to endingsarenotalwaysbad, imaginesakura, Keke xp and Starlite Oracle for the reviews as well as those who favourited and alerted. If I could give out imaginary white chocolate chip macadamia cookies, I would.

**Card of Ashes**

It was gone.

She didn't have to open her pouch to know that the piece of paper he had given her was no longer there, the fibres holding it together smouldered and crumbled away into ashes of nothingness; erasing all traces of his feelings for her along with its existence.

"Luffy."

Her straw-hatted captain gave her his usual dopey grin, and Nami felt her unease lift just a little at his infectious enthusiasm; just as it had so many times before whenever he reassured her that things would turn out alright. And they always did.

"Ah…about Ace's paper?"

She nodded.

Luffy gave his usual _shishishi_ laugh, before flashing her a thumbs' up. "_Daijobu_, it's fine, don't worry!"

"Luffy-san, I don't mind taking an alternate route," the newest addition to their crew, that wretched, perverted talking skeleton Brook piped up while Usopp and Franky quickly seconded him. Nami turned hopefully towards the black haired boy.

"No really, it's fine!" Shaking his head, Luffy took another gulp from the mug of orange juice Sanji had just handed him as her heart sank. "Besides, even if he were in trouble, there would be no use in worrying about it every time. Ace hates to be looked down as if he were weak."He burped in satisfaction while Chopper squealed with laughter beside him. Somewhere behind her, Zoro and Sanji were scuffling over some typically pointless provocation the other had said.

Nami continued fiddling with her fingers restlessly, but Luffy seemingly ignored her troubled demeanour. "Even if I go, I won't be able to do anything. The next time we meet, we'll be enemy pirates. For Ace, that's his adventure!" He beamed his trademark mega-watt grin.

Defeated, she turned away as Usopp clapped his hands excitedly. "Anyway, if that's all, let's do it again – in celebration of our new nakama, cheers to our new musician Brook!" Someone handed her a mug of beer, as the Straw Hat's sniper proposed a toast.

"KANPAI!" Their cheers rang all the way to the heavens, but even as she grinned and laughed away with the others; her right hand gently fingered the Vivre Card in her pocket that she could feel slowly was disintegrating away with every passing second.

* * *

"You're up late again."

The flame-haired Navigator lowered herself slowly next to him, the freshly-mown lawn soft and ticklish under her bare feet. "I thought you would be fast asleep after the party – everyone else is." Right on cue, the noisy snores of her other crew mates echoed faintly in the still night air, alternating with the lapping of the waves against the Going Merry's sides. It was a windy night, and by her calculations they should comfortably reach the shores of Alabasta by tomorrow evening.

He slung his arm companionably around her shoulders, squishing her close against his bare torso. "I'm sorry I didn't get you anything," he murmured. "If I'd known earlier, I would have..."

"It's not a big deal," Nami shrugged, her cheeks slightly pink at the proximity of their bodies. "Although if you want to make me a gift of a few hundred thousand beli in addition to the 550,000 you already owe me for eating my mikans, I won't complain." She grinned up at him.

Ace responded by giving her a playful poke in the ribs, a soft smile curving his lips as he watched the female pirate squeal in annoyance at the sudden attack. "Isn't it enough that I'm glad you were born, Nami?" he smirked in mock-reverence. "The world needs more money-loving witches like you."

"And I'm glad you were born, Ace," she huffed, dusting herself down and checking that not a single of her precious beli had dropped out of her shirt during their playful little exchange. "The world needs more cocky bastards like you to torment them." She rested her head on his shoulder in quiet contentment.

Surprisingly, he remained silent for a good few moments. "Do you really mean that?" A pensive expression hung on his face and for the first time, a hint of doubt seemed to cloud his usual self-assurance.

Nami squinted in surprise at him. "Of course I do. You annoy the hell out of me, but damn it - I still like you," she winked.

Stifling the smile that threatened to spread across his face, Ace merely responded by squeezing her hand fondly. "Happy birthday, Nami."

* * *

_Forgive me, Luffy – that we weren't there to share your nightmares. _

"Nami-san, I'm so sorry for your loss."

It had been a week since news of Marineford had broke and Nami was standing at the edge of the beach again as she had done every evening since then, staring blankly at the jagged lines of the distant horizon before the sound of footsteps made her turn around.

Pulling herself together, the Navigator frowned at the intruder. "Sorry for what, Haredas-san? My captain escaped Marineford alive, with a promise to meet up again in two years' time." Looking up at the elder man's solemn expression, she tried harder. "My only focus now is to hone my weather abilities so that he can depend on me when we set sail for the New World," she tried to smile, but her voice rose just a little too high as tears threatened to leak out of her eyes again; as they had at random intervals throughout the days and nights since that fateful article had come out. Furiously dabbing at her eyes, Nami turned back to watching the waves, resolutely fixing her eyes on the white foamy tips running swirly patterns across the peaceful shoreline.

Gently taking her hand and opening the fist she didn't even realise she had been clenching, the old man slowly smoothed out the crumpled front page which bore last week's triumphant headline, along with a full coloured picture of Ace exactly as she had remembered him in Alabasta. Seeing him now; that roguish smirk and devil-may-care attitude he exuded even in a picture, made her heart ache.

_Fire-Fist Ace_..._the Marines have_ _finally exterminated the last of the bloodline of the notorious criminal, Gol D. Roger..._

_Ace, I never knew. I'm sorry I never had the chance to hear it from you. _

"You, as a Navigator of all people should know that your duty is to guide your ship to the calmest waters after the storm," Haredas said kindly, handing her back the wrinkled page as his quiet voice broke into her wandering thoughts. "Even if the winds howl and the waves crash down, you pick up the pieces of your battered ship, and continue onwards to the next island. I had not had the privilege of meeting him before, but I had heard he was a good man."

_Having a younger brother who's a bit slow makes an older brother worry. Please take good care of him. _

Realising that her elderly companion knew what she did not want to talk about, Nami smiled gently before returning her gaze to the wide, open blue. Ace may no longer be with her, but she could keep his memory alive by fulfilling his last request to the Strawhat Pirates.

_Wait for me, Luffy. I'll make you the Pirate King, if it's the last thing I do._

And somewhere out there, she thought she heard the faint echo of an approving laugh from a certain older brother floating on the breeze.

* * *

**A/N**: This is the last chapter in the three-shot series spanning the Alabasta and Marineford Arcs – sorry it had to end on a sad note. The next bit will probably be a stand-alone featuring Ace and the Whitebeard crew, so do stick around :)


	5. Save the Last Dance for Me

**A/N**: AU only because Whitebeard and Ace didn't die during that battle in Marineford. This has been hiding in my hard-drive forever, so apologies for the long wait!

**Save the Last Dance for Me**

It was the most outrageous thing she had ever seen in her entire life.

Apart from that pinwheel Genzo kept on insisting on wearing (eventhough she had personally threatened to steal it from him in his sleep one night).

"Do you really think it will work, girl?"

She had worn outfits far skimpier and more revealing than this, but for some reason she tried to ignore the sudden bout of self-consciousness that overtook her as she involuntarily tugged the excuse for a crop top covering her chest. Slowly, she lifted her gaze past that great, quivering white moustache that had inspired a generation of pirates to fear him; to lock eyes with arguably, the greatest pirate to sail the Four Seas in the New Age.

"I'm not just relying on this."

Without warning, a deep rumbling erupted from his throat and Edward Newgate threw back his head as he let out his signature laugh. "Gurararara," he guffawed, as the young woman involuntarily heaved a sigh of relief at the elderly pirate captain's evident mirth. "So be it then," Whitebeard continued, taking a swig from the massive gourd next to him that smelt faintly like East Blue sake, its distinctively sharp assault on her senses reminding her a little of her green-haired crewmate. "My men could use some entertainment and you seem full of…spirit, even if I'm not sure your dancing skills are as comparable."

Nami bristled, slightly insulted at his little dig at her abilities. "I assure you, Whitebeard-sama that this is one show neither you nor your men will forget," she smirked, daring to playfully wag a finger at him. "After all, I am a woman on a _mission_." Taking care to draw the silken golden veil carefully across her face before she exited the room, the Navigator could have sworn she saw a faint smile cross his lips.

* * *

"Eh?! We're having a belly-dancer during dinner tonight?!"

Marco grinned lazily. "I suppose even Oyaji has his crazy moments sometimes," the First Division Commander nodded somewhat sarcastically at Jozu and Vista's gobsmacked expressions. "This might actually be one of his saner ideas, right Ace?"

The youngish black-haired pirate approaching them took his seat at the head of their table before promptly tipping the entire dish of soup down his throat, seemingly unaffected by the temperature of the steaming broth he had just ingested. He belched appreciatively.

"Oh, Ace!" Jozu greeted him brightly, while the others nodded in acknowledgement. "How was last night's party?"

The pirate tipped a few sides of beef onto his plate, poking them experimentally before he began shoving them into his mouth at breakneck speed. "They ran out of meat and alcohol," came the muffled response in between mouthfuls of pot roast. He reached for the pitcher of wine that was usually served with every meal. "Got pick-pocketed by some bastard as well, probably when I was passed out."

Vista made a sympathetic sound. "So you won't have any beli to give the belly dancer tonight?"

A snort sounded from the freckled young man. "A bad pun, but yes. Hope this isn't the start of some end-quarter life crisis Oyaji's going through," Ace snickered. "You guys will have to tell me if she's any good."

"You're not going to be here?" Vista asked, his initial shock at hearing about the night's entertainment having worn off.

Ace swallowed two potatoes whole, shaking his head vigorously. "My brother's ship is around these parts, so I'll be going over to the Sunny for dinner. Have to say that their chef is more amazing than even ours."

"The Strawhat Pirates…that's the crew with the beautiful Navigator – Cat Thief Nami isn't it?"

The Second Division Commander shrugged nonchalantly at Vista and Jozu's obvious excitement at the mention of Nami's name. "I'll give her your regards."

Marco slapped Ace on the back. "Forget Vista and Jozu – come on, you think she's pretty fine yourself, don't you Ace?" the blonde man teased the younger pirate, as the latter's eyes grew wide in horror.

"I'm afraid I like chickens more than chicks, Marco," Ace scoffed, tearing into a chicken thigh with his customary gusto. "Besides, why would she spare a glance at a big ugly pirate like me when she's got Vista and Jozu here to lavish her with attention?" The other two Division commanders guffawed loudly as Ace flashed them a thumbs' up, leaving Marco to shake his head in amusement at his crewmates' antics.

* * *

"Marco here will show you to your quarters until dinner time."

It was rather strange that Oyaji was treating this evening's entertainment like an honoured guest on board the Moby Dick but then again, the young lady in question must have had something outlandishly special to convince the notoriously stern Whitebeard to allow her to give a show on his ship.

"So Fire-Fist Ace is a part of this crew?"

The sudden question startled the Commander out of his thoughts. The blonde man turned to consider his companion thoughtfully. Her voice was melodic with a hint of playfulness and he could just about make out a mass of orange red curls cascading down her back. Although her face remained obscured by the golden veil covering it, she exuded an aura that was surprisingly alluring. Marco was sure that the teasing sway of her hips had surely driven many a man's heart wild; left unchecked, such women could potentially wrought greater damage on a pirate crew than the most fearsome storm or army.

"He's one of the Commanders of our crew," Marco replied nonchalantly, sliding the key into the battered lock of one of their numerous guest cabins. "You have an interest in him?" The Phoenix smirked. As a young, famous and good-looking member of the one of the most notorious pirate crews in the world, Marco was no stranger to dealing with enquiries from love struck young ladies from all four seas about the status of his younger colleague's love life.

The dancer girl gave another musical laugh. "You could say that," she replied rather enigmatically. "He owes me something."

Intrigued, Marco's eyes suddenly caught sight of the blue markings adorning her left arm. "That's an unusual tattoo you have, Miss."

Quickly snatching her arm away from the table, she shot back, "Oh nowhere near as cool as yours though," she winked, pointing at the famous moustachioed Jolly Roger he had tattooed proudly on his open chest.

As incredible as it seemed, Marco was slowly beginning to put two and two together about the mysterious girl but he remained outwardly indifferent towards her. "So we shall see you tonight at dinner then?"

"Definitely." She flashed him a big grin.

"Ace will be there."

Another smile, but this time a rather sly note played around her perfect pink lips. "I hope so."

As he headed back to his cabin, a thought suddenly hit Marco. He frowned. "Oh damn. He won't be."

* * *

"Thanks for the meal!" Thankfully, his thunder -rivalling belch was drowned out by the only other man that could match his bottomless pit - the notorious Monkey D Luffy, four hundred million beli man and member of the Worst Generation's Eleven Supernovas…who was currently slumped over the table in a deep food coma, a large bubble poking out of the side of his nose. Tip-toeing next to their Captain, Chopper and Usopp were debating who could pop the bubble without waking him up while Sanji and Zoro were having another one of their mindless arguments over who should clean the dishes. Over by the deck, Robin and Franky were having a lively discussion about whether hot chocolate or cola was to be the dessert while their skeleton musician, Brook played a merry tune on his violin in the background of the chaos.

But he liked it. It reminded Ace of his own Second Division, especially after a few bags of chocolate covered peanuts.

The Mera-Mera no Mi user suddenly snapped his fingers. "Where's Nami?"

Zoro paused in the middle of his argument. "No idea where that witch went," he grunted, blocking a petulant kick from an enraged Sanji for insulting his precious "Nami-swan." "She's probably off shopping on the mainland with all that loot she swiped from some unfortunate sod at that party last night…"

His ears pricked up. "Last night you say?"

"Yeah, she always goes to these gigs so that she can seduce and rob those drunk gu…now you're asking for it curlybrows!" The moss-haired swordsman growled, flexing his muscles threateningly at Sanji while Ace was suddenly distracted by the mini Den-den Mushi in his trouser pocket springing to life. "Hello?"

"Ace!" Even amid the crackle of static that blared out of the miniature snail's receiver, the Second Division Commander recognised the telltale slur of his fellow Commander's words that were almost drowned out by the sounds of howling laughter and whooping. "Where are you, you bastard? You're missing one hell of a show, Oyaji is getting a bit of a lap dance here!"

"What?!" Ace felt his jaw comically clunk downwards.

Thatch gave a loud hiccup before another voice that sounded suspiciously like Marco's cut into the phone, "Hey Ace – get your ass over here before the party is over. They've just announced she's got one more set left before the night is over so you can still make it."

"Wait Marco…!"

"Gotta run…oof!" A crashing noise sounded before the call abruptly ended.

He continued staring at the snail in stunned silence for a few moments after his inebriated crewmates hung up on him before an evil cackle split across his face. "A lap dance? Now this is what those video surveillance Den Den Mushis were made for!"

* * *

With a final, exaggerated sway of her hips, Nami winked at the room and let the wads of beli and coins rain down on her from her adoring audience of Whitebeard Pirates. It hadn't been difficult – as the saying went, anything in a skirt that moved was enough to send the crowd wild. But among the sea of drunk, wolf-whistling pirates, she seemed to be missing the one she wanted most.

Scooping up the night's loot into the generous folds of her sheer satin skirt, she graciously thanked a guffawing and clearly drunk Whitebeard for gamely participating in the performance while the entire room bellowed for an encore. Hiding her disappointment, she hollered back, "All right I have time for one more dance, but it's going to cost you guys!"

Almost everyone's hand shot up in the air, begging to be her volunteer and the orange-haired pirate regarded the bawdy crew in amusement. She had them completely under her spell – they'd better make this last dance worth her time in gold. "I choose…" Scanning the room, she deliberately took her time; making eye contact with several hopefuls before moving on to the next as she stroked her chin. Just as she was about to settle on the pineapple-haired pirate who had shown her to her quarters today, the hall doors banged open and to her surprise, a familiar figure burst in. "Is the party over?"

An evil grin tugged at her lips at her sudden stroke of luck. "I choose him," she pointed as the room erupted into a chorus of boos.

The look of horror and surprise on his face when Ace was suddenly hoisted up and shoved towards the stage made her cackle in anticipation. Oh, had she saved the best for last. Setting the bemused Second Division Pirate Commander down on the chair, she nodded at Vista to cue the music.

* * *

Everything seemed like a whirlwind of lights, colours and sounds.

As soon as Ace had stepped foot into the dining hall, he had been swept up into the shoulders of the crowd of screaming pirates and unceremoniously dumped onto the stage in front of the belly dancer. And before the Pirate Commander even had a chance to catch his breath, the raucous chanting of the crowd swelled to a crescendo and the lights began to dim. The lights faded into darkness but for a split second, he caught sight of a mass of orange hair.

_Hang on, this seemed familiar…_

As the familiar tunes of a cheesy, rhythmic anthem boomed from the speaker, Ace suddenly sat upright as a lightning bolt of recognition thundered through his head.

"You're the girl from last night!" He groaned as she twirled gracefully around him, her movements becoming more fluid and confident as the music played on. "Nami."

She laughed, her high notes carrying high over the booming sounds of the background music. "Took you long enough. You lost our drinking contest last night remember? So this is your punishment - an embarrassing moment in front of your entire crew!"

He sighed in half-exasperation, watching the Navigator's hips sway tantalisingly from side to side as his fellow Pirates wolf-whistled and cheered. "I would have thought that emptying my wallet of all my beli would have satisfied you."

Nami smacked his head playfully as she danced around him in dizzying circles. "I've gone to a lot of trouble find you, the least you can do is play along with me. In fact, why don't you show your crew some of those moves you were breaking out on the dance floor last night?" she grinned as she held out her hand. "Before you passed out, of course."

Standing up from the chair in one swift movement, he lifted the orange-haired Navigator and slung her across his shoulder like a sack of beli as she gave a startled squeal. "Sorry everyone, but the show's over. I think that's enough of gawking at my little dancer for one night. Catch you guys tomorrow." Turning back to Nami, he gave her a roguish wink. "Now my lady, would you consent to giving me a private…"

He slumped forward suddenly, a large bubble popping out of his nose.

The hall fell silent, as everyone including Nami looked in momentary disbelief at the narcoleptic pirate.

"WAKE UP ACE, YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN!" Her screams echoed through the rafters of the great Moby Dick and across the roaring waves of the Grand Line.

Oyaji let out a rumbling _gurarara_ of laughter as the music continued playing and the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates resumed their singing and merry-making. Oh, his children never failed to amuse him.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope this was silly and random enough to make you laugh as much as I did writing this. And that's it folks, the last of the Ace/Nami stories I've written. Whlle I won't rule out writing anymore if anything interesting pops up in my mind, in case it doesn't happen I really hope you've enjoyed the ride :)


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